At a time when American voters feel like their politicians are out of touch and bank bailouts on Wall Street take precedence over economic troubles on Main Street, it’s difficult to contemplate a more unlikely presidential candidate than Donald Trump.
Though Trump has captured the fancy of Republican primary voters, it’s clear that the billionaire businessman is from a different world – and eager to flaunt it.
We all know that The Donald’s ego is “uuuuuge,” as he might say. But even as a potential presidential candidate who’s supposed to relate to average Americans, he can’t help but boast.
In an interview on CNN a few days ago, Trump went out of his way to point out that he is much more rich than GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.
“I’m a much bigger business man and have (a) much, much bigger net worth. I mean, my net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney,” the real estate mogul said in a Sunday interview. “I built a very big net worth and I’d like to put that ability … to work for this country.”
Trump actually referred to Romney, who made his millions as a hedge fund manager who reorganized and dismantled struggling corporations, as a “small business guy.” I wonder what the merchants on Main Street think of that definition of small business.
Of course, the Manhattan business magnate never mentioned that he got his start by inheriting his daddy’s lucrative New York City real estate business. Or that his track record in business is a bit spotty.
Trump’s gambling enterprise produced casinos that repeatedly suffered from near-financial collapse. Outside of the Detroit city limits, I’ve never heard of anyone who can’t make money running a big-time casino.
Lou Illar, a gaming expert and author of a book on the history of U.S. casinos, is particularly harsh in criticizing Trump’s endeavor as a gambling boss.
“Donald Trump…for president? Seriously? That rude, unscrupulous, casino-owning celebrity mastermind is more suited to jail than the most influential political seat in the world,” Illar said recently.
One area where Trump is admired is in his uncanny self-promotional abilities, to sell himself beyond what is reality, which seems odd behavior for a billionaire.
When Trump first started making noises about throwing a locket of his hair into the presidential ring, he boasted that he was undecided because he has a myriad of other considerations. After all, he told one interviewer, he is the host of the No. 1 TV show on NBC, “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Of course, these days being the top NBC show in the TV ratings is kinda like being the best Detroit Lions coach of the past quarter century. Trump’s cheesy program has surged in the recent ratings, probably largely due to the bizarre behavior of Gary Busey and Meatloaf (could one of these weirdos be a possible Trump running mate?), but the truth is that, over the course of the TV season, “Celebrity Apprentice” ranks somewhere around 44th.
Meanwhile, many critics believe Trump’s flirtation with a presidential run is nothing more than an egomaniacal stunt to boost his TV ratings. The fact that he may make his campaign decision on the show’s May finale certainly adds to the evidence that this is all a big publicity game.
The question is: why is a TV show that makes little money so much a part of this business tycoon’s life?
Just to be clear, in a recent speech Trump instructed his audience that he was once called “one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the history of free trade.”
Modesty has never been a part of this corporate showman’s schtick. Trump’s business pattern is to go for the big splash – another Trump Towers, for example – even if that means making a deal with city officials to demolish an adjacent neighborhood.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Trump lives in a palatial penthouse decorated with trim made of gold – and I mean gold as real as anything Glenn Beck has ever hawked – and he revels in surroundings that resemble those Saddam Hussein palaces that were uncovered by U.S. troops.
It’s hard to imagine The Donald capturing the White House and then deciding to work in cooperation with the lowly members of Congress – Democrats or Republicans. Trump has already crossed swords with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican.
One can envision a tense meeting in the Oval Office with lawmakers where Trump, feeling unduly disrespected, would spit out: “Cantor, you’re fired.”
While many in the Tea Party who are smitten with Trump routinely refer to President Obama as the self-proclaimed “messiah” of politics, clearly Trump would take presidential arrogance up several notches.
In that CNN interview he essentially declared that it’s obvious that a declining America can’t survive without him, and that’s why he’s considering a run.
“I don’t do it for myself, I’ll be doing it for the country,” he said matter-of-factly. “And guess what? That’s what this country needs.”
